$3.00

$3.00 well spent I think.

The kids have been getting so antsy about going outside and just finding fun stuff to do, so today I bought something fun. I spent $3.00 on Crayola Window markers.

They were a hit.

Here is the quick picture I did for the kids to show them how they worked.

 They work great on sliding glass doors and when you are done just spray a little Windex and it is all gone.

 Out of all the kids, Briea loved this the most.

 I think it is because she felt like she was getting away with some thing naughty. ;0)

This is most definitely a supervised activity, but I have to admit that I had a lot of fun coloring on the door as well. 

it is a great way to work on shapes, colors, numbers and writing their names. I think this will bring some fun to our house until it gets just a little bit warmer outside!!

date day.

Garran and I finally got to go out on a date. I think the second since we have moved here. Anyways, we went to chicago in the morning to do a session and then stopped by a book store and grabbed some lunch. Garran picked the place. He definitely picked it because of its name. I told him to smile when I took this picture and this was what i got. 

He is so funny. This man can still make me laugh till i cry. We had such a fun day.

 the food however was not great. neither garran or i were very impressed. neither one of us finished our lunch. as we were leaving garran said "hey there is a Wendy's, let's get a frosty". He LOVES frosty's. So we did. He saw that they had a new strawberry frosty and decided to try it. Well here is a guess at what he thought....

ya not so good. kind of taste like cough syrup. needless to say we had  a good laugh at all our bad choices and bad luck that day. it was great to spend the morning with him and have such a good day!

my life.

this is my life. I find these everywhere. b will not leave her diaper on. yes she is starting to potty train a little, but this is so annoying. I hate finding these and then having to hunt down a hiding giggling little girl. although it is funny to watch her squeal with delight when i find her!

playing.

playing with a lens I have not use in a while (as you can see, some of them have a slight blur to them). i still need to practice with it some more. But since I have cute children, I thought I would just snap some of them one afternoon. Plus my awesome  husband got me Lightroom 3 for Christmas, so I am also playing with that.

 (i really wish that this would have come out really sharp)

Cullan.

Cullan singing a "Cullan Original"!

moves!

yep he has them.

wonder where he got them?

I have my guesses!

minutes later.

minutes after coming home from my DMV fiasco, this came down the stairs.

i decided to post this picture of Briea instead of our dresser, which is now a Briea original. 

Thank You Black Sharpie!

i think it is going to be one of those days.

DMV...Dun.Dun. Dun!

Ok, so today I went to the DMV, yet again to get my driver's license. (no kidding, this is like the 10th time I have tried, but they are never open or there is always some dumb reason it does not work) So I get there, feeling rather good that they are actually open. Usually they are closed when they are supposed to be open. So I take my trusty number..275! When I sit down, there is a room full of people. They are only on number 260. I figure, that is ok, it should move pretty quickly. It does not move as quickly as I would like, but I wait for roughly 45 minutes. I am still not to upset. At least I am finally in this DMV and they are actually open and I am finally going to get this accomplished. Finally......finally they call MY number. 275! I jump up and walk to the counter. I have a smile on my face and say, "I moved here from Iowa and need a new license....Please". The lady says ok. Then she proceeds to tell me that she needs my social security card, birth certificate, current drivers license, and proof of residency. Still smiling I hand her all the above. She looks at the stack and then smiles and hands it back. For my proof of residency they said I just need to bring a piece of mail. They did not specify which kind of mail, just a piece. So I say, "What's the problem", as I gently slide the stack back her way. She says, 

"This is the wrong kind of mail honey".

 WRONG KIND OF MAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

are you kidding me. really. it does not specify that I need a medical bill on the paper, it says MAIL!!!!

so i thank her for her time, ask what time they open in the morning and say "See you then!"

This DMV will not get the better of me and will not beat me. My quest to get a license from this sly and tricky DMV will happen. I plan on being their tomorrow when the doors open to get my license and plates for the van. They said they will be open....Ya, we will just wait and see.
oh and ps. as I am leaving this lady stops me and says, "Hun, you have a sticker on your rear." What I think. Ya I have this big long strip sticker from the groceries we bought on my butt. I had it there the whole time. While I was standing in front of the whole DMV. AWESOME

Can it be true?

Today I went to the mail box and do you know what was in there?

A letter for Cullan..... For kindergarten round up!

I can not believe it is already here. My baby boy is off to kindergarten in the fall.

Have I mentioned......

How much I love this girl.

 How much I love the sweet sound of her chewing on those fingers!

Just thought I would share.

sleeping beauty.

HAPPY 4 MONTHS ...

to my sweet sleeping beauty!!

so much sweetness, love, and cuteness in such a tiny package. 

we are so happy you are part of your family Ayla!

things are changing.

sometimes when I look at Cullan, I still see this. He was about 2 years old here. (i think) now rationally i know that he is 5 and that he has changed a lot since then. however, one of the things that i was not really thinking would ever happen is that Cullan wants his space. Luckily not necessarily from Garran and I, but from his brother and sister. He has been saying things lately like, "Can I help you with that, only me and not Kael or Briea". He also always wants to go with us when one of us goes to the store, but he wants it to be just us. Now, at first I was thinking, does he not feel like we pay enough attention to him, but I don't think that is it. (I could be wrong I guess) I just think that right now he is craving attention and the ability to do things on his own. He and his siblings are together 24/7. Most kids his age are in kindergarten already, but due to a late birthday  he is not. I think he is starting to want to stretch his legs a little and do things that separate him from the pack a little. The thing that brings me comfort is that he still wants to play and be around his siblings and he is still very kind to them. I guess this is just another part of growing up. Sometimes, I just wish they would just slow down. Some days I miss the little boy in the picture, but on the other hand growing up has its perks and fun things also. 

yummy

her fingers must be really tasty!

one day...

this girl is going to break some hearts!

bow crazy.

so i did it. 

if you want, you can check it out. 

if not, that is ok too!

BUNCHES OF BOWS!

the little writer.

Cullan has been on a letter writing kick. So today I suggested that he write one to my sister, per her request. I thought I would scan them to save them for him as something fun to look back on.
(i write the letter just as cullan says it, so that is some of the words might not make sense or might look misspelled)

fun apps.

so this is a fun app. the kids love it. so here is our fun products from this fun app!

i did everyones except my own. Garran did mine. Can't you tell??

TRA-DI-TION

(sorry about the title, i have been watching "Fiddler on the Roof". That song is stuck in my head)

Any who. tonight we had our annual Valentine's Family Dinner.

I figured why not start with the pictures of dessert first.

(plus that is just how it loaded. I'm not feeling so hot, so i am just going to go with it)

here is the cake that the kids and i made. can you tell they decorated it. there are sprinkles and candy everywhere. surprisingly they did not want any. so now we have a whole cake sitting on the table. Garran tasted it and said it was really good, but who knows. Kids are so finicky.

good thing i was such a nice mom and let them pick out some cookies too. Some of these are going to our neighbor for Valentines Day. She lives alone and is in her 90's.

For dinner we had heart shaped quesadillas. So here are all the fixings.

and here are the quesadillas!

here is our lovely Valentine's Dinner. The kids love eating by candle light.

They were so funny. They said "Mom, it's like were at a restaurant!"

see....doesn't he look excited!

"CHEESE MOM!"

He is getting old now and thinks he is to cool for school sometimes. He told me, when I asked if he knew what Valentine's Day was about, he said "Yeah, it's about family and LOVE!"

Ayla having some lovely Valentines Day Soy!

now this picture is HORRIBLE. However I feel inclined to post it. I am sick. Garran was only home for two hours to do the dinner and then off to school again. However this is the memory. This is how I looked through the dinner. Sick and all. So here we are, we still had a good time.

Happy Valentines Day!!

Hope everyone had a LOVE-ly day!

Cullan's letter to Oliver

Cullan wanted to write this letter to Oliver. So Daddy wrote down whatever Cullan said. I thought it was so funny to see the things he thought were important enough to add in the letter. He does not want to mail it to Oliver, he wants to wait until they see each other in person to give it to him. Cullan is such a funny kid.

together.

they are so cute.

he LOVES her.

she LOVES him. 

she lights up when he comes anywhere near her and he always asks to hold 

her and to care for her. 

i am glad they love each other so much. 

L.O.V.E.

Do you know what I really love right now?????

 I really love that this little girl, that Briea calls "Ya Ya", cause I guess Ayla just does not roll off the tongue.

 Anyways.....

I love that this little girl loves to chew and suck on any finger or arm she can get her hands on. She will even suck on my shirt if I am holding her over my shoulder. It is one of my favorite sounds. This sweet little slobbery sound. It is great.

ps. on February 8th. "Ya Ya" rolled over!!

pss. yes her hair bow has a J on it. i have not made one yet that went with her outfit that had an A. Her middle name starts with a J. I figured close enough ;0)

smile

cullan was in the van and called my name. when i turned around he said...

"look mom, i am smiling!"

this boy is so funny. he cracks me up all the time.

i think she thinks.....

sitting in this diaper box is some sort of ride. 

she sure was squealing with delight!

pants.

yep. he never wears them.   

ok...it's more than a hobby.

well i have always collected craft stuff and not it is finally being put towards something. 

i am addicted to making these little bows. 

i have no clue what i am going to do with all of them. 

Ayla needs to hurry and grow some hair!!

Anyway, just thought I would post some pictures on here of what I did today during nap time....

 instead of dishes! ;0)

it feels good to be doing something crafty during the day. I guess it is just a nice change in my day from diapers! ;0)

not that i don't love the little folks that fill them.